On the Chain: Bitcoin holds above US$77,000 after explosive rally as ETF inflows surge

Bitcoin is holding above US$77,000 after one of its strongest weekly rallies in years, with a sharp return of institutional buying, improving liquidity conditions and more favourable US regulatory signals combining to revive the broader cryptocurrency market.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency was trading around US$77,180 early on Monday, easing about 0.6% after reaching almost US$79,500 on Friday. Bitcoin has nevertheless retained most of the gains from a rally that lifted it from around US$64,000 at the beginning of last week.

Ether was changing hands near US$2,435, down around 1% over 24 hours, while Solana was around US$94.10, also about 1% lower.

The modest pullback follows a dramatic week in which bitcoin and ether both gained roughly 24% to 28%, with bitcoin briefly breaking US$79,000 and triggering a broad rally across digital assets.

ETF money comes flooding back

Institutional demand was one of the clearest signals behind the move.

US spot bitcoin and ether exchange-traded funds attracted a combined US$2.6 billion in net inflows last week, their strongest combined week since October 2025.

Bitcoin ETFs accounted for US$1.9 billion, their largest weekly inflow of 2026, while ether products attracted US$697.2 million.